Global attestation procedure

ABSTRACT

A method, computer program product, and system for authenticating a computing device by geographic attestation includes a processor utilizing executing an authentication application utilizing location services executing on the computing device to obtain location data from the location services. The processor obtains the location data and creates and encodes a data structure in a secured area of a memory; the data structure is only accessible to the authentication application. The processor transmits to an authentication server, an authentication request that includes the encoded location data, requesting access to secure content. The processor obtains a request to query identifiers proximate to the computing device for additional location information and queries the identifiers and transmits this additional location information to the authentication server. The processor receives a notification and based on obtaining the notification, erases the secured area and turns off the location services on the computing device.

BACKGROUND

Geographic attestation, i.e., the confirmation of a location of a user,can be utilized as a boundary for this user to access protected data.For example, the access of users to their medical records is can beenabled or denied based on the location of the user. In some existingsystems, users who want to access to their medical account informationmust be on a hospital premise to do so.

SUMMARY

Shortcomings of the prior art are overcome and additional advantages areprovided through the provision of a computer program product forauthenticating a computing device to access secure content using globalattestation. The computer program product comprises a storage mediumreadable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for executionby the processing circuit for performing a method. The method includes,for instance: utilizing, by one or more processors on a computingdevice, executing one or more programs of an authentication application,location services executing on the computing device to obtain locationdata from the location services. Based on obtaining the location data,creating and encoding, by the one or more processors, a data structurefrom the location data in a secured area of a memory of the computingdevice, wherein the data structure is only accessible to theauthentication application; transmitting, by the one or more processors,to an authentication server, an authentication request, wherein theauthentication request comprises the encoded location data, and theauthentication request is a request for access to secure content via theauthentication server. Obtaining, by the one or more processors, fromthe authentication server, a request to query identifiers proximate tothe computing device for additional location information; responsive tothe request, querying, by the one or more processors, the identifiersfor the additional location information and transmitting the additionallocation information to the authentication server. Obtaining, by the oneor more processors, a notification, responsive to the authenticationrequest, from the authentication server. Based on obtaining thenotification, erasing, by the one or more processors, the secured areaand turning off the location services on the computing device.

Shortcomings of the prior art are overcome and additional advantages areprovided through the provision of a method of authenticating a computingdevice to access secure content using global attestation. The methodincludes, for instance: utilizing, by one or more processors on acomputing device, executing one or more programs of an authenticationapplication, location services executing on the computing device toobtain location data from the location services. Based on obtaining thelocation data, creating and encoding, by the one or more processors, adata structure from the location data in a secured area of a memory ofthe computing device, wherein the data structure is only accessible tothe authentication application. Transmitting, by the one or moreprocessors, to an authentication server, an authentication request,wherein the authentication request comprises the encoded location data,and the authentication request is a request for access to secure contentvia the authentication server. Obtaining, by the one or more processors,from the authentication server, a request to query identifiers proximateto the computing device for additional location information. Responsiveto the request, querying, by the one or more processors, the identifiersfor additional location information and transmitting the additionallocation information to the authentication server. Obtaining, by the oneor more processors, a notification, responsive to the authenticationrequest, from the authentication server. Based on obtaining thenotification, erasing, by the one or more processors, the secured areaand turning off the location services on the computing device.

Shortcomings of the prior art are overcome and additional advantages areprovided through the provision of a system for authenticating acomputing device to access secure content using global attestation. Thesystem comprises a memory, a processor in communication with the memory,and program instructions executable by the processor via the memory toperform a method. The method includes, for instance: utilizing, by oneor more processors on a computing device, executing one or more programsof an authentication application, location services executing on thecomputing device to obtain location data from the location services.Based on obtaining the location data, creating and encoding, by the oneor more processors, a data structure from the location data in a securedarea of a memory of the computing device, wherein the data structure isonly accessible to the authentication application. Transmitting, by theone or more processors, to an authentication server, an authenticationrequest, wherein the authentication request comprises the encodedlocation data, and the authentication request is a request for access tosecure content via the authentication server. Obtaining, by the one ormore processors, from the authentication server, a request to queryidentifiers proximate to the computing device for additional locationinformation. Responsive to the request, querying, by the one or moreprocessors, the identifiers for additional location information andtransmitting the additional location information to the authenticationserver. Obtaining, by the one or more processors, a notification,responsive to the authentication request, from the authenticationserver. Based on obtaining the notification, erasing, by the one or moreprocessors, the secured area and turning off the location services onthe computing device.

Methods and systems relating to one or more aspects are also describedand claimed herein. Further, services relating to one or more aspectsare also described and may be claimed herein.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniquesdescribed herein. Other embodiments and aspects are described in detailherein and are considered a part of the claimed aspects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more aspects are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimedas examples in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. Theforegoing and objects, features, and advantages of one or more aspectsare apparent from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting aspects of a technical environment intowhich aspects of an embodiment of the present technique can beintegrated;

FIG. 2 depicts a workflow illustrating certain aspects of an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a workflow illustrating certain aspects of an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts one embodiment of a cloud computing node;

FIG. 5 depicts one embodiment of a cloud computing environment; and

FIG. 6 depicts one example of abstraction model layers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate viewsand which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification,further illustrate the present invention and, together with the detaileddescription of the invention, serve to explain the principles of thepresent invention. As understood by one of skill in the art, theaccompanying figures are provided for ease of understanding andillustrate aspects of certain embodiments of the present invention. Theinvention is not limited to the embodiments depicted in the figures.

As understood by one of skill in the art, program code, as referred tothroughout this application, includes both software and hardware. Forexample, program code in certain embodiments of the present inventionincludes fixed function hardware, while other embodiments utilized asoftware-based implementation of the functionality described. Certainembodiments combine both types of program code. One example of programcode, also referred to as one or more programs, is depicted in FIG. 4 asprogram/utility 40, having a set (at least one) of program modules 42,may be stored in memory 28.

Current geographic attestation processes are vulnerable to hacking. Incurrent processes, an application determines the location of the user bylocating the individual within a virtual polygon to localize the area ofpresence of the user. In order to access the desired information, theuser provides account credentials through a mobile application, alongwith other key attributes, to an authentication server. The latitudinaland longitudinal coordinates of this user are ascertained and alsopassed to the server, for example, in secured markup language. Assistingin ascertaining this location information are physical “identifier”devices that are spatially embedded throughout the premise to supportverification processes across one or more of the aforementionedpolygons. These systems are vulnerable to hacking because a user'saccount could be hacked by altering the latitudinal and longitudinalcoordinate data, which are data that are essential to the authenticationof the user. These data are vulnerable to hacking even if the mobileapplication encodes the data using a Geohash encoding algorithm toprotect the information.

Certain embodiments of the present invention provide advantages overknown global attestation procedures. As aforementioned, applicationsthat require certain geographical/location information in order toaccess secure information are susceptible to malicious accesses of thelocation information, compromising the security of the data protected bythe geographic attestation requirement. Certain embodiments of thepresent invention prevent accesses to and guard the authenticity ofgeographic information that is utilized as part of an authenticationprocess, in order to prevent sensitive data from being compromised andtherefore serve to optimize global attestation procedures to enablerobust security to avoid the possibility of hacking, without modifyingthe hardware of existing computing environments that perform globalattestation. To this end, certain embodiments of the present inventionmay include improvements to this computing technology.

In order to improve data security computer technology, certainembodiments of the present invention include an improvement that isinextricably tied to computer technology, specifically, one or moreprograms obtain location data, for example, using a Global PositioningSystem (GPS) and use this location data to create a data structurewithin a secured area of a computing devices. This secured area can bereferred to as an “invisible memory area” because the area of the memoryin which the one or more programs store the location information is onlyaccessible to an authentication application, but not to any otherapplication executing on the computing device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, one or more programs maystore geographic/location data in a secured memory area and furtherprotect the integrity and security of the data by generating anencryption key along with the location data.

In addition to storing geographical/location data in a secured memoryarea and encrypting this data (generating a key at the time of storage),embodiments of the present invention may further secure this data andprevent the data from being obtained by malicious accesses by matching,authorizing and erasing the data when the location information isacquired by an authorized authentication server, In certain embodimentsof the present invention, once accesses to secure data by a computingdevice are authorized by an authentication server, and then one or moreprograms turn off the GPS services of the computing device to save powerand to prevent additional attempts at obtaining the location data.

FIG. 1 is a diagram that illustrates certain aspects of a computingenvironment 100 into which aspects of some embodiments of the presentinvention can be implemented and utilized. Denoted in FIG. 1 is apolygon 110 that defines an area and as long as a computing device islocated at latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates that fall within thearea of the polygon 110, the device is at a geographic location thatcould be authorized by a geographic attestation process to access thesecure content 140 (e.g., medical records) to which an authenticationserver 120 serves as a gatekeeper. As understood by one of skill in theart, validation through geographic attestation may be only a portion ofthe authentications required for one or more programs executing on theauthentication server 120 to permit an authorized user device 130 a-130b in the polygon to access the secure content 140. For example, one ormore programs executing on the user devices that pass the geographicattestation stage of an authorization may also be required, by theauthentication server 120 to supply additional credentials.

To illustrate how the polygon 110 defines an authorized geographiclocation, FIG. 1 depicts more than one mobile device, a first userdevice 130 a, a second user device 130 b, and a third user device 130 c.The first user device 130 a and the second user device 130 b are atlocations from which the authentication server 120 could permit one ormore programs executing on these user devices 130 a-130 b to access thesecure content 140. However, the third user device 130 c is at alocation from which the authentication server 120 would not permitaccess to the secure content 140, as the third user device 130 c wouldfail the geographic attestation process by being outside of the polygon110. Physical identifiers 115 a-115 c are spatially embedded throughoutthe premise, and depicted in FIG. 1 in polygon 110, to supportverification processes across the polygon 110.

FIG. 1 depicts the authentication server 120 as being inside the polygon110 and the secure content 140 as being outside of the polygon 110, asmerely one example of a possible configuration of a technicalenvironments that utilizes aspects of an embodiment of the presentinvention. The locations of authentication server 120 and the securecontent 140 may vary across various embodiments of the presentinvention. For example, the authentication server 120 and the securecontent 140 may be located on the same physical machine, in anembodiment of the present invention or the secure content 140 may resideon a different physical machine than the authentication server 120 thatis accessible to the authentication server 120. Also, although portrayedas a single entity, for ease of understanding, the one or more ofauthentication server 120 and/or the secure content 140 may be comprisedof more than one physical computing node. For example, bothauthentication and storing of secure content, in an embodiment of thepresent invention, may be handled by various computing resources over adistributed computing environment, including but not limited to, a cloudcomputing environment.

As discussed above, in an embodiments of the present invention, theauthentication server 120 utilizes the geographic location of a userdevice 130 a-130 c as at least part of the criteria in determiningwhether to authorize the device to access the secure content 140. Asillustrated in reference to the first user device 130 a, each userdevice may include a location device or service 132 a (e.g., a GPSmodule) that when enabled includes program code that communicates with aGPS satellite 150 in order to determine the latitudinal and longitudinallocation of the device. Program code executing on a device or on acomputing node with access to a device, may enable and disable thelocation device or service 132 a in a given device.

FIG. 2 depicts a workflow 200 of an embodiment of the present invention.Throughout the explanation of this workflow 200 references are made toelements of FIG. 1 in order to assist in illustrating certain aspects ofembodiments of the present invention.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in order for a computingdevice (e.g., FIG. 1, 130 a) to be authenticated by an authenticationserver (e.g., FIG. 1, 120) to access secure content (e.g., FIG. 1, 140),program code executed by one or more processors of the computing devicethat is part of an authentication application utilizes location services(e.g., a GPS module) in the computing device to acquire location data(210). In an embodiment of the present invention, the program code mayenable the location services, which communicate with a GPS satellite andutilize the data from the GPS satellite to determine the location of thecomputing device. The program code obtains the location data from thelocation services.

Returning to FIG. 2, upon obtaining the location data, the program codecreates a data structure in a secured area of a memory of the computingdevice that is only accessible to the authentication application (220).The program code encodes the location data by applying a desired levelof encryption (230). In an embodiment of the present invention, thesecured area of the memory can be understood as an “invisible memoryarea” because it is only visible to the program code associated with theauthentication application and cannot be accessed by other applicationsexecuting on the computing device. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the secured area of the memory in which the program codestores the location information is owned only by the authenticationapplication and the user of the computing device cannot access andtherefore, alter, the data acquired via the location services. In anembodiment of the present invention, the secured area is part ofNon-Volatile Memory accessible to the application or Flash backedDynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM). In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the secured memory area is a Non-Volatile Dual In-line MemoryModule (NVDIMM) in the Flash backed DRAM memory and is only accessibleto the authentication application because it is locked by the programcode erases the data before the release of the memory area. In anembodiment of the present invention, after the program code stores thelocation information in the secured area, the information only remainsin the stored area for a short amount of time, for example, because theprogram code deletes the information after the computing device issuccessfully authenticated.

As aforementioned, the program code of the authentication applicationlocked the secured area so that no other application can access thestored location data. In various embodiments of the present invention,the program code may utilize differing methods to lock the secured area.In an embodiment of the present invention, the program code encrypts andstores the location data and sends an encrypted key using MRS commandsto DRAM and its content is backed up with Flash memory. In embodimentsthat utilize this form of locking, only when the key is matching willthe memory controller of the device enable the content to be opened bythe program code. The memory controller will generate different keyseach time the program code stores location data, to ensure that thelocation data is not hacked. In an embodiment of the present invention,the memory controller can generate various keys based on the timestampsof the times of storage of the location data. In an embodiment of thepresent invention, the secured area of the memory is locked because theaforementioned Flash memory part is protected by the Operating System(OS). In an embodiment of the present invention, the secured area of thememory comprises a new data structure, which can be understood by theauthentication application and access is provided by the memorycontroller only when the authentication is successful.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the Flash memory address isfixed, so whenever the authentication application is invoked, it willassume that the data was acquired from the GPS, processed, encrypted,and stored in the secured section, and then it will try to authenticate.If it is successful, the OS or the application will be able to accessthe location data different methods. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, if an attempt is made by a program to access the secure areawithout the correct encrypted key, one or more programs executed by thecomputing device, including but not limited to the firmware of thecomputing device, will automatically erase the location data.

Returning to FIG. 2, in an embodiment of the present invention, theprogram code sends an authentication server (e.g., FIG. 1, 120) arequest to authenticate the computing device (e.g., FIG. 1, 130 a) foraccess to secure content; the request includes the encoded location data(240). In an embodiment of the present invention, the program code mayalso send additional data, including credential information, to theauthentication server, together with the encoded location data from theinvisible memory.

Upon receipt of the encoded location data, one or more programsexecuting on a processing resource on or accessible to the server decodethe encrypted location data and determine where the computing device islocated (250). For example, the program code may determine the polygonin which the computing device is located, according to the location datareceived by the authentication server.

One the program code has decrypted the location information, it attemptsto authentication accuracy of the information. The program code requeststhat the computing device query identifiers (e.g., FIG. 1, 115 a-c)proximate to the computing device for additional location information(260). One or more programs executing on the computing device queryproximately located identifiers and pass the location informationobtained in response to these queries to the authentication server(270). If the location data supplied by the computing device to theauthentication server is accurate, identifiers proximate to thecomputing device should supply location credentials that situate theidentifiers in the same polygon as the computing devices. One or moreprograms at the authentication server obtain this additional locationinformation and compare the additional location information to thelocation information to verify the accuracy of the location information(280).

Based on the location information matching the additional locationinformation (e.g., both the computing device and the identifiersindicating locations with the same polygon) one or more programs at theauthentication server send an acknowledgment to the computing device toindicate a successful authentication (290 a). Once the authenticationserver has authenticated the computing device, the authentication serverenables queries originating from the computing device to access thesecure content. Based on receiving the authentication, the program codeof the authentication application erases the secured area and turns offthe location services on the computing device (295).

Based on the location information not matching the additional locationinformation, the one or more programs at the authentication server sendan acknowledgment to the computing device to indicate that theauthentication is not successful (290 b). Based on receiving thisresponse, the program code of the authentication application erases thesecured area and turns off the location services on the computing device(295). In an embodiment of the present invention, the program code mayattempt to authenticate the computing device after an unsuccessfulauthentication by requesting location data from the computing deviceand/or additional location data from the identifiers via the locationdevice a predefined amount of times before determining that theauthentication is unsuccessful and sending the notification to thecomputing device.

Aspects of certain embodiments of the present invention enhancegeographic attestation by introducing heightened security into this typeof authentication. For example, in embodiments of the present invention,the workflow depicted as FIG. 2 is accomplished in a manner that is notvisible to the user of the computing device (e.g., FIG. 1, 130 a).Additionally, because the secured area of the memory of the computingdevice, where the program code stores the location data retrieved by thelocation services of the computing device, is exclusive to theauthentication application, the user of the computing device cannotalter the location data because the user cannot access this area of thememory nor could a hacker access this area to make changes to thelocation data, for example, the latitudinal and longitudinal values.Because the location data is obtained by the application via locationservices on the computing device that access a GPS satellite, thelocation services (e.g., GPS module) the location data are robust (andreliable) data points. In addition to being accessible exclusively tothe authentication application, in embodiments of the present invention,the secure memory area and the data within is accessible with encryptedkeys and if accesses are attempted without the proper credentials, thefirmware deletes the contents of the secure area automatically. As seenin the workflow 200 of FIG. 1, aspects of an embodiment of the presentinvention are atomic and the processes described are atomic and includeno hooks that user could utilize to change the described protocol.Embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in existingcomputing environments because the aspects described do not requireadditional hardware components and can be accomplished by the firmwareof the computing device and the authentication server and/or anapplication running on the OS of one or more of these computing nodes.

FIG. 3 is a workflow 300 that depicts certain aspects of an embodimentof the present invention from the vantage point of a computing deviceseeking authentication to access secure content. In an embodiment of thepresent invention, program code of an authentication applicationexecuting on one or more processors of a computing device utilizeslocation services in the computing device to acquire location data(310). In an embodiment of the present invention, the program code mayrequest a GPS module to communicate with a GPS satellite in order toobtain the latitudinal and longitudinal location of the computingdevice. Based on obtaining the location data, the program code creates adata structure from the location data in a secured area of a memory ofthe computing device that is only accessible to the authenticationapplication (320). In an embodiment of the present invention, theprogram code encodes the location data (330). When encoding the locationdata, the program code may generate an encryption key that theauthentication application can utilize to access the data. In the eventthat a process attempts to access the data with an incorrect key, in anembodiment of the present invention, the program code deletes the datastructure.

Returning to FIG. 3, in an embodiment of the present invention, programcode sends an authentication server a request to authenticate thecomputing device for access to secure content; the request includes theencoded location data (340). Responsive to sending this request, in anembodiment of the present invention, the program code obtains a requestfrom the authentication server to query identifiers proximate to thecomputing device for additional location information (350). The programcode queries proximately located identifiers and passes the locationinformation obtained, in response to these queries, to theauthentication server (360). Responsive to the submission of theadditional location information, in an embodiment of the presentinvention, the computing device either obtains a notification from theauthentication server and is able to access the secure content afterreceiving the notification or the computing device receives anotification that it has not been authenticated and is therefore unableto access the secure content (370).

Whether or not the computing device is authorized to access the securecontent, responsive to receiving the notification, in an embodiment ofthe present invention, the program code erases the secured area andturns off the location services on the computing device (380).

In an embodiment of the present invention, an OS can read the securedarea (e.g., a Flash private memory) only if authorized and theinformation required for this authorization to occur is only availableto the authentication application, which is executed by the OS. In anembodiment of the present invention, the program code sends the locationdata DRAM through an MRS command. If it is authenticated, then programcode in the DRAM will process the data as the location data is encryptedin this embodiments of the present invention when it is in DRAM. FromDRAM, the program code moves the location data to Flash, which is aNVDIMM that can back up the data. Because this information ishard-coded, in this embodiment of the present invention, the memorycontroller or the computing device knows in which block address to storethis location data and it will create a new secured data structure forthe authentication application to access. When the authenticationapplication or the OS needs to access this data, it needs toauthenticate first with DRAM if it's successful, then program code inDRAM moves control to a secondary memory wherein the location data canbe read, for example, based on a partial restore function in NVDIMM, andtakes the location data and puts this data into DRAM for the applicationto utilize. Once a process is complete, for example, an authenticationhas succeeded or failed, the program code of the memory controllererases the secured memory and the same area can be used for differentpurpose. In another embodiment of the present invention, although thecontents of the memory are erased, the memory controller may preservethe memory location for future uses by the authentication application,depending on the memory availability.

In an embodiment of the present invention Abstraction Layer ApplicationProgramming Interfaces (APIs) are utilized by the program code to readhardware registers in the computing device and access memory contentdirectly from OS. In this embodiment of the present invention, programcode is able to read the secured content of the Flash memory afterauthentication in DRAM. Specifically, after authentication in DRAM, thehardware automatically restores the content of Flash memory into DRAMand then the memory controller takes the location data frompredetermined address of DRAM (e.g., unused MRS register and through MPRread) and pushes the data into a hardware register which can be read bythe OS.

An embodiment of the present invention includes a computer-implementedmethod where program code of an authentication application executed byone or more processors of a computing devices, utilizes locationservices on a computing device to obtain location data from the locationservices, Based on obtaining the location data, the program code createsand encodes a data structure from the location data in a secured area ofa memory of the computing device, wherein the data structure is onlyaccessible to the authentication application. The program codetransmits, to an authentication server, an authentication request, wherethe authentication request includes the encoded location data, and theauthentication request is a request for access to secure content via theauthentication server. The program code obtains, from the authenticationserver, a request to query identifiers proximate to the computing devicefor additional location information. Responsive to the request, theprogram code queries the identifiers for the additional locationinformation and transmits the additional location information to theauthentication server. The program code obtains a notification,responsive to the authentication request, from the authentication serverand based on obtaining the notification, the program code erases thesecured area and turns off the location services on the computingdevice.

In an embodiment of the present invention, prior to utilizing thelocation services, the program code initiates the location services onthe computing device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the authentication serverdecodes the encoded location information and compares the locationinformation to the additional location information to determine if thelocation information and the additional location information indicatelocations in a similar geographic area.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the location informationincludes a latitudinal coordinate and a longitudinal coordinate,describing a position of the computing device. In an embodiment of thepresent invention, the various location information is in a similargeographic area when the latitudinal coordinate and the longitudinalcoordinate describing the position of the computing device indicate alocation in a virtual polygon defining a geographic area and theadditional location information comprises latitudinal coordinates andlongitudinal coordinates indicating additional locations in the virtualpolygon.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the notification is either anauthorization to access the secured content or a denial of access to thesecured content. In an embodiment of the present invention, when thenotification comprises the authorization to access the secured content,the program code accesses a portion of the secured content via theauthentication server.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the encoding includesgenerating an encryption key, wherein the authentication applicationutilizes the encryption key to access the data. In this embodiment,prior to obtaining the notification, the program code may obtain anaccess request to access the data structure in the secured area of thememory, where the access request does not comprise the encryption key.In this situation, the program code may delete the data structure.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the secured area of thememory is either a portion of Non-Volatile Memory or Flash backedDynamic Random Access Memory.

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). Theconsumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructureincluding network, servers, operating systems, storage, or evenindividual application capabilities, with the possible exception oflimited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forloadbalancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a schematic of an example of a cloud computingnode is shown. Cloud computing node 10 is only one example of a suitablecloud computing node and is not intended to suggest any limitation as tothe scope of use or functionality of embodiments of the inventiondescribed herein. Regardless, cloud computing node 10 is capable ofbeing implemented and/or performing any of the functionality set forthhereinabove. In an embodiment of the present invention, both the usercomputing devices 130 a-130 c (FIG. 1) and the authentication server 120(FIG. 1), can be understood as cloud computing node 10 (FIG. 6) and ifnot a cloud computing node 10, then a general computing node thatincludes aspects of the cloud computing node 10.

In cloud computing node 10 there is a computer system/server 12, whichis operational with numerous other general purpose or special purposecomputing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-knowncomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may besuitable for use with computer system/server 12 include, but are notlimited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thinclients, thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframecomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments thatinclude any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

Computer system/server 12 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer system. Generally, program modules may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. Computer system/server 12 may be practiced in distributed cloudcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be locatedin both local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

As shown in FIG. 4, computer system/server 12 in cloud computing node 10is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. Thecomponents of computer system/server 12 may include, but are not limitedto, one or more processors or processing units 16, a system memory 28,and a bus 18 that couples various system components including systemmemory 28 to processor 16.

Bus 18 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures,including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, anaccelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of avariety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation,such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus,Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, VideoElectronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and PeripheralComponent Interconnect (PCI) bus.

Computer system/server 12 typically includes a variety of computersystem readable media. Such media may be any available media that isaccessible by computer system/server 12, and it includes both volatileand non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

System memory 28 can include computer system readable media in the formof volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 30 and/or cachememory 32. Computer system/server 12 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 34 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to bus 18 by one or more datamedia interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,memory 28 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g.,at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out thefunctions of embodiments of the invention.

Program/utility 40, having a set (at least one) of program modules 42,may be stored in memory 28 by way of example, and not limitation, aswell as an operating system, one or more application programs, otherprogram modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one ormore application programs, other program modules, and program data orsome combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules 42 generally carry out the functions and/ormethodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein.

Computer system/server 12 may also communicate with one or more externaldevices 14 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 24, etc.;one or more devices that enable a user to interact with computersystem/server 12; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.)that enable computer system/server 12 to communicate with one or moreother computing devices. Such communication can occur via Input/Output(I/O) interfaces 22. Still yet, computer system/server 12 cancommunicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet) via network adapter 20. As depicted, network adapter 20communicates with the other components of computer system/server 12 viabus 18. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardwareand/or software components could be used in conjunction with computersystem/server 12. Examples include, but are not limited to: microcode,device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays,RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 5 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 6, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 5) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 6 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow, which may include maintaining VPD at a VPD location the computersystem. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and generating authenticating a user toaccess secure content.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

In addition to the above, one or more aspects may be provided, offered,deployed, managed, serviced, etc. by a service provider who offersmanagement of customer environments. For instance, the service providercan create, maintain, support, etc. computer code and/or a computerinfrastructure that performs one or more aspects for one or morecustomers. In return, the service provider may receive payment from thecustomer under a subscription and/or fee agreement, as examples.Additionally or alternatively, the service provider may receive paymentfrom the sale of advertising content to one or more third parties.

In one aspect, an application may be deployed for performing one or moreembodiments. As one example, the deploying of an application comprisesproviding computer infrastructure operable to perform one or moreembodiments.

As a further aspect, a computing infrastructure may be deployedcomprising integrating computer readable code into a computing system,in which the code in combination with the computing system is capable ofperforming one or more embodiments.

As yet a further aspect, a process for integrating computinginfrastructure comprising integrating computer readable code into acomputer system may be provided. The computer system comprises acomputer readable medium, in which the computer medium comprises one ormore embodiments. The code in combination with the computer system iscapable of performing one or more embodiments.

Although various embodiments are described above, these are onlyexamples. For example, computing environments of other architectures canbe used to incorporate and use one or more embodiments. Further,different instructions, instruction formats, instruction fields and/orinstruction values may be used. Many variations are possible.

Further, other types of computing environments can benefit and be used.As an example, a data processing system suitable for storing and/orexecuting program code is usable that includes at least two processorscoupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus.The memory elements include, for instance, local memory employed duringactual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memorywhich provide temporary storage of at least some program code in orderto reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storageduring execution.

Input/Output or I/O devices (including, but not limited to, keyboards,displays, pointing devices, DASD, tape, CDs, DVDs, thumb drives andother memory media, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directlyor through intervening I/O controllers. Network adapters may also becoupled to the system to enable the data processing system to becomecoupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storagedevices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cablemodems, and Ethernet cards are just a few of the available types ofnetwork adapters.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, thesingular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It willbe further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”,when used in this specification, specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, butdo not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below, if any, areintended to include any structure, material, or act for performing thefunction in combination with other claimed elements as specificallyclaimed. The description of one or more embodiments has been presentedfor purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or limited to in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain variousaspects and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinaryskill in the art to understand various embodiments with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: utilizing, by one or moreprocessors on a computing device, executing one or more programs of anauthentication application, location services executing on the computingdevice to obtain location data from the location services, wherein thelocation data indicates a physical location of the computing devicecontemporaneously with the executing; based on obtaining the locationdata, creating and encoding, by the one or more processors, a datastructure from the location data in a secured area of a memory of thecomputing device, wherein the data structure is only accessible to theauthentication application; transmitting, by the one or more processors,to an authentication server, an authentication request, wherein theauthentication request comprises the encoded location data, and theauthentication request is a request for access to secure content via theauthentication server; obtaining, by the one or more processors, fromthe authentication server, a request to query identifiers geographicallyproximate to the computing device for additional location information,wherein geographically proximate to the computing device compriseswithin a pre-defined perimeter around the physical location of thecomputing device; responsive to the request, querying, by the one ormore processors, the identifiers for the additional locationinformation, wherein the additional location information compriseslocation data originating from each of the identifiers, indicating alocation of each of the identifiers, and transmitting the additionallocation information to the authentication server; obtaining, by the oneor more processors, a notification, responsive to the authenticationrequest, from the authentication server; and based on obtaining thenotification, erasing, by the one or more processors, the secured areaand turning off the location services on the computing device.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented of claim 1, further comprising: prior to utilizingthe location services, initiating, by the one or more processors, thelocation services on the computing device.
 3. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the authentication server decodes the encodedlocation data and compares the decoded location data to the additionallocation information to determine if the decoded location data and theadditional location information indicate locations in a similargeographic area, wherein the similar geographic area comprises thepre-defined perimeter around the physical location of the computingdevice.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein thedecoded location data comprises a latitudinal coordinate and alongitudinal coordinate, describing a position of the computing devicecomprising the physical location of the computing device.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the decoded locationdata and the additional location information indicate locations in thesimilar geographic area when the latitudinal coordinate and thelongitudinal coordinate describing the position of the computing deviceindicate a location in a virtual polygon defining a geographic area andthe additional location information comprises latitudinal coordinatesand longitudinal coordinates indicating additional locations in thevirtual polygon, wherein a perimeter of the virtual polygon comprisesthe pre-defined perimeter around the physical location of the computingdevice.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein thenotification is selected from the group consisting of: an authorizationto access the secured content and a denial of access to the securedcontent.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein thenotification comprises the authorization to access the secured contentand the method further comprises: accessing, by the one or moreprocessors, a portion of the secured content via the authenticationserver.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein theencoding comprises generating an encryption key, wherein theauthentication application utilizes the encryption key to access thedata.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising:prior to obtaining the notification, obtaining, by the one or moreprocessors, an access request to access the data structure in thesecured area of the memory, wherein the access request does not comprisethe encryption key; responsive to the access request, deleting, by theone or more processors, the data structure.
 10. The computer-implementedof claim 1, wherein the secured area of the memory is selected from thegroup consisting of: a portion of Non-Volatile Memory, and Flash backedDynamic Random Access Memory.
 11. A computer program product comprising:a computer readable storage medium readable by one or more processorsand storing instructions for execution by the one or more processors forperforming a method comprising: utilizing, by the one or more processorson a computing device, executing one or more programs of anauthentication application, location services executing on the computingdevice to obtain location data from the location services, wherein thelocation data indicates a physical location of the computing devicecontemporaneously with the executing; based on obtaining the locationdata, creating and encoding, by the one or more processors, a datastructure from the location data in a secured area of a memory of thecomputing device, wherein the data structure is only accessible to theauthentication application; transmitting, by the one or more processors,to an authentication server, an authentication request, wherein theauthentication request comprises the encoded location data, and theauthentication request is a request for access to secure content via theauthentication server; obtaining, by the one or more processors, fromthe authentication server, a request to query identifiers geographicallyproximate to the computing device for additional location information,wherein geographically proximate to the computing device compriseswithin a pre-defined perimeter around the physical location of thecomputing device; responsive to the request, querying, by the one ormore processors, the identifiers for the additional locationinformation, wherein the additional location information compriseslocation data originating from each of the identifiers, indicating alocation of each of the identifiers, and transmitting the additionallocation information to the authentication server; obtaining, by the oneor more processors, a notification, responsive to the authenticationrequest, from the authentication server; and based on obtaining thenotification, erasing, by the one or more processors, the secured areaand turning off the location services on the computing device.
 12. Thecomputer program product of claim 11, the method further comprising:prior to utilizing the location services, initiating, by the one or moreprocessors, the location services on the computing device.
 13. Thecomputer program product of claim 11, wherein the authentication serverdecodes the encoded location data and compares the decoded location datato the additional location information to determine if the decodedlocation data and the additional location information indicate locationsin a similar geographic area, wherein the similar geographic areacomprises the pre-defined perimeter around the physical location of thecomputing device.
 14. The computer program product of claim 13, whereinthe decoded location data comprises a latitudinal coordinate and alongitudinal coordinate, describing a position of the computing devicecomprising the physical location of the computing device.
 15. Thecomputer program product of claim 14, wherein the decoded location dataand the additional location information indicate locations in a similargeographic area when the latitudinal coordinate and the longitudinalcoordinate describing the position of the computing device indicate alocation in a virtual polygon defining a geographic area and theadditional location information comprises latitudinal coordinates andlongitudinal coordinates indicating additional locations in the virtualpolygon, wherein a perimeter of the virtual polygon comprises thepre-defined perimeter around the physical location of the computingdevice.
 16. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein thenotification is selected from the group consisting of: an authorizationto access the secured content and a denial of access to the securedcontent.
 17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein thenotification comprises the authorization to access the secured contentand the method further comprises: accessing, by the one or moreprocessors, a portion of the secured content via the authenticationserver.
 18. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein theencoding comprises generating an encryption key, wherein theauthentication application utilizes the encryption key to access thedata.
 19. The computer program product of claim 18, the method furthercomprising: prior to obtaining the notification, obtaining, by the oneor more processors, an access request to access the data structure inthe secured area of the memory, wherein the access request does notcomprise the encryption key; responsive to the access request, deleting,by the one or more processors, the data structure.
 20. A systemcomprising: a memory; one or more processors in communication with thememory; and program instructions executable by the one or moreprocessors coupled to the memory to perform a method, the methodcomprising: utilizing, by the one or more processors on a computingdevice, executing one or more programs of an authentication application,location services executing on the computing device to obtain locationdata from the location services, wherein the location data indicates aphysical location of the computing device contemporaneously with theexecuting; based on obtaining the location data, creating and encoding,by the one or more processors, a data structure from the location datain a secured area of a memory of the computing device, wherein the datastructure is only accessible to the authentication application;transmitting, by the one or more processors, to an authenticationserver, an authentication request, wherein the authentication requestcomprises the encoded location data, and the authentication request is arequest for access to secure content via the authentication server;obtaining, by the one or more processors, from the authenticationserver, a request to query identifiers geographically proximate to thecomputing device for additional location information, whereingeographically proximate to the computing device comprises within apre-defined perimeter around the physical location of the computingdevice; responsive to the request, querying, by the one or moreprocessors, the identifiers for the additional location information,wherein the additional location information comprises location dataoriginating from each of the identifiers, indicating a location of eachof the identifiers, and transmitting the additional location informationto the authentication server; obtaining, by the one or more processors,a notification, responsive to the authentication request, from theauthentication server; and based on obtaining the notification, erasing,by the one or more processors, the secured area and turning off thelocation services on the computing device.